Sectors and Canada as a Market

Welcome to Canada! A country where European and American influences collide to create a plethora of business opportunities.

There are plenty of reasons for why Danish companies should do business in the Canadian market; English is spoken all over the country making communication very easy and corruption is almost non-existing. Culture and the way of doing business are very comparable to Scandinavia; in fact Canada is referred to as “The Americas Scandinavia”. The financial and political system are both extremely stable, eliminating almost all thinkable political and trade risks. Most important is the fact that the Canadian business mind-set is known for being very open to new impulses and ideas.

Canada is the 10th biggest economy in the world and GDP is expected to grow steadily within the next years. The country has been relatively unaffected by the global financial crisis compared to those of other industrialised and Canada is said to have the strongest economy among the G7 countries. Canada also has one of the soundest bank sectors in the world and is a safe haven for investors.

Next to the USA the EU is Canada’s most important trading partner. The CETA trade agreement between Canada and the EU only emphasizes this relationship eliminating 99% of all tariff lines and open for significant increase in trade of goods, services and cultural exchange. EU export to Canada will increase more than EUR 14 billion (20%) on an annual basis as a result of the agreement.

In general, Canada is an easily accessible market. Similar to Denmark, SMEs also dominate in Canada and as a result politicians often prioritize improving the conditions for these SME’s. In addition to sharing the same occupational structure, Denmark and Canada also have similar business economy values; both countries are open, export oriented and interested in attracting investments.

Denmark already has a relatively large market share in Canada, but there is indeed a huge unexploited potential. Lately medical and pharmaceutical products have experienced a remarkable growth and are now among the largest Danish export category to Canada. Also the Canadian CleanTech sector’s outlook is very bright as an increasing green awareness is rising among Canadians. The same goes for the Construction and Green Building sector where Danish companies have had tremendous success within recent years. Mining, oil and gas is another important industry in Canada and more than 40% of the world´s mining exploration involves Canadian companies.

According to a recent analysis by KPMG, Canada is one of the most profitable western countries to establish a company in. The workforce is well educated, the wage level is below the Danish level and the start-up expenses are cheaper than in the U.S. This makes Canada an interesting country for those Danish companies wishing to establish themselves on the North American market.

Trade Council North America in Toronto looks forward to assisting Danish companies in this process!